The protests in China continue to weigh on US stock markets. While the Dow Jones is treading water, the Nasdaq indices are losing. Meanwhile, oil and gold prices are rising.
After the clearer losses on Monday, the US stock markets continued to fall, but only slightly. In view of the strong upward movement since October, the air is too thin for clear gains, it was said in the trade.
The negative factors were the same as the day before: hawkish statements from US central bankers undermining market expectations of only a small 50 basis point interest rate hike on December 14th and the development in China. There, the protests against the tough Covid 19 containment measures have calmed down, but only because Beijing has apparently let them down.
On the other hand, the "optimized" measures announced by the Chinese health authorities to combat Covid still left market players cold. Among other things, there should be no more inappropriate factory closures and production interruptions. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped more than 5 percent.
The Dow Jones index closed slightly higher at 33,852 points, the S
Following the hawkish central banker comments, rising yields on the bond market had a braking effect. Reluctance was also caused by the fact that US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be making an appearance on Wednesday on the subjects of the economic outlook and the labor market. This date could be exciting, especially after the recent hawkish-sounding statements from other central bankers.
Chemours fell 1.3 percent on the stock market. The chemical company expects adjusted operating profit to remain below the lower end of the target range and is now looking to cut costs.
Unitedhealth ended the day 0.8 percent cheaper. The health insurer has provided an earnings outlook that's slightly below Wall Street estimates for the next year.
UPS, on the other hand, gained 2.8 percent after an upgrade to "buy" by Deutsche Bank. Analysts believe the market is too focused on sluggish volume growth and macroeconomic uncertainty rather than the package delivery company's structural opportunities to boost profits.
After cruise line Carnival reported bookings for Cyber Monday that were 50 percent higher than the volume of Cyber Monday 2019, the stock rose 4.6 percent.
Kala Pharmaceuticals gained 0.3 percent after a volatile run. The company is raising $31 million through a private placement and will file for regulatory approval of a new compound.
In the forex market, the dollar moved sideways overall. He made up some ground against the euro over the course of the day. The fact that inflation in Germany was surprisingly lower than expected in November fueled speculation that the ECB would raise interest rates by just 50 and not 75 basis points in December, and put slight pressure on the euro.
Oil prices rose, with WTI slightly stronger at 1.7 percent. In the trade there were rumors about an imminent cut in subsidies by OPEC. The price of gold rose by half a percent.
